Looking Back on our Q&A with Director Mark Jenkin
Published April 24, 2026
Photograph by Jack Oliver
Cornish filmmaker Mark Jenkin is currently on tour with his latest film Rose of Nevada. The film came to Studio 74 on Tue 14 Apr for a special preview screening followed by a Q&A. Jenkin discussed his work and filmmaking process with our Film Programmer, Claire Horrocks, and took questions from the audience.
Rose of Nevada tells the story of two young men (played by George Mackay and Callum Turner) who are offered a job working on a fishing boat. What the men don’t know is that the vessel is the 'Rose of Nevada', which was lost at sea with its crew thirty years earlier. The film is a ghostly tale that explores time travel in a unique and original way.
The film was shot in Cornwall on Jenkin’s vintage Bolex H16 camera using 16mm film. The camera has to be manually wound every twenty-seven seconds, and no sound is recorded whilst filming. All dialogue and sound is added in post-production, with the actors recording their lines in a studio. Jenkin described how he returns to the film locations months after the shoot with his tape-recorder and headphones to gather sound for the film. He mixes the soundscapes himself as well as creating the film’s music. The production of his films is an intricate and deeply artistic one, with Jenkin taking a leading role in several different aspects of the creative process.
The cinematography is striking and uses saturated colour and extreme close-ups to tell the story. The scenes that take place out at sea are particularly captivating and immersive with crashing waves, clanking chains and cramped interiors. All of Jenkin’s films are deeply connected to Cornwall, both through setting, and their exploration of Cornish identity and history. Rose of Nevada shows us the gritty reality of the fishing industry and the extreme, sometimes life or death, conditions on the boat.
The film begins with a montage of close-ups of the rusty old fishing vessel before we cut to a long-shot of the little red boat moored in the harbour. Red is the colour of blood, passion and danger, and for the characters, the boat is a both a life-line and a ghost-ship. The boat is bright and bold, making it stand-out against the subdued tones of the decaying town. Liam (played by Callum Turner) is given a bright red cap by a local, aesthetically linking him to the ship and to the past. Once the two men are transported back in time, the colour palette of film becomes increasingly vibrant and dreamlike.
The supernatural elements of the story contrast the difference between the ghost-town of the modern day and the thriving community of the early nineties. In the post-screening Q&A, Jenkin discussed his time travel media influences highlighting a love of the Back to the Future franchise and the TV show Quantum Leap, which he binged watched while developing the film. Jenkin also laughed about having bought a quantum physics textbook during development that remains ‘mostly unread’. The film is a subtle and ambiguous take on the time travel genre. There is an eerie and uncanny quality to the film as it explores the idea of the loss of community, and the links between the past and the present.
It was lovely to host Mark Jenkin at Exeter Phoenix and hear him discuss his filmmaking career at this sold-out preview.
Claire Horrocks, Film Programmer at Studio 74, said ‘it was great to welcome Mark back to our independent cinema and get our audience connecting with his film.’
Rose of Nevada is a film best experienced on the big screen with its intricate soundscape and textural quality. And where better to see it than at Exeter’s home of independent cinema!
Rose of Nevada is screening at Studio 74 from Fri 24 Apr. For screening times click here.
Studio 74 regularly hosts Q&A screenings including an upcoming screening of Prevenge followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Alice Lowe and Comedian Mike Wozniak in collaboration with Exeter Comedy Festival.